Richmond—Bridgeport

Richmond—Bridgeport occupies the central and western portions of the city of Richmond, an island municipality in the Fraser River delta south of Vancouver. The riding takes in established residential neighbourhoods along No. 3 Road, the busy commercial strips around Lansdowne and Aberdeen centres, and extends west toward the farmland along the Middle Arm of the Fraser. The city's population is among the most ethnically diverse in British Columbia, with a large Chinese-Canadian community that includes residents with ties to Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, and other parts of East Asia. The Canada Line rapid transit connects Richmond to downtown Vancouver, and the planned Capstan Station — an infill stop between Bridgeport and Aberdeen-Capstan — had advanced through planning during the NDP's term.

The riding was new, carved from the former Richmond North Centre seat in the 2024 redistribution. Teresa Wat, who had represented Richmond North Centre as a BC Liberal since 2013, crossed the floor to the Conservative Party in August 2024, weeks before BC United formally suspended its campaign. Her switch aligned her with the party that appeared to have the strongest centre-right momentum in the province.

Candidates

Teresa Wat (Conservative Party) — Wat immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong in 1989 and forged a career in multicultural broadcasting, rising to news director at Channel M Television — later rebranded as OMNI TV — and to president and CEO of Mainstream Broadcasting Corporation. She entered the legislature in 2013 and held the International Trade and Asia Pacific Strategy and Multiculturalism portfolios during the Christy Clark government. By the 2024 contest, she was seeking her fourth term.

Linda Li (BC NDP) — Li had been a community leader in Richmond since 1996, with involvement in the Richmond Chinese Community Society and the Richmond Hospital Foundation. She was a managing broker at Metrohome Realty Ltd. and ran on a platform emphasizing health care, housing affordability, and community safety.

Tamás Revóczi (BC Green Party), Glynnis Hoi Sum Chan (Independent), and Charlie Smith (Independent) also contested the riding, each receiving a minor share of the vote.

Local Issues

The planned Capstan Station on the Canada Line represented a significant transit infrastructure investment for the riding. By 2019, the City of Richmond had raised $32 million in developer contributions — exceeding the original target — to fund the infill station at the intersection of No. 3 Road and Capstan Way. Design work and public engagement proceeded through 2020 and into 2024, and new residential towers were being built in anticipation of the station's opening. The station promised improved transit access for a rapidly densifying corridor in central Richmond, but the timeline for construction remained uncertain, and residents questioned when the long-discussed project would actually be completed.

Housing affordability and the NDP government's housing interventions remained contentious in Richmond. The speculation and vacancy tax — set at two per cent for foreign owners and satellite families — had been credited with returning thousands of previously vacant properties to the rental market across Metro Vancouver and had a moderating effect on speculative demand. But in a community with extensive transnational family structures and deep ties to Hong Kong, mainland China, and other parts of Asia, the tax drew accusations of unfairly targeting immigrant families, particularly those with members working abroad. Benchmark home prices in Richmond remained among the highest in the region, and the intersection of housing policy with the community's cultural and economic character made the issue unusually personal.

Public safety and the toxic drug crisis emerged as a significant concern in the 2024 campaign, particularly in Richmond. The NDP government's decriminalization pilot — launched in January 2023 — had generated anxiety in a community that perceived an increase in public drug use and related disorder. The Conservative platform's promise to end decriminalization and close supervised consumption sites resonated with many voters in a riding where public safety ranked alongside housing and health care as a top concern. Settlement services, multilingual government access, and the adequacy of provincial support for newcomers continued to be everyday necessities in a riding whose population relied on services delivered in Cantonese, Mandarin, and other languages.